I have a few collections. Okay, I have several odd collections. One of my favorite collections is of floor cleaners. You see, I own five of them. They all have different purposes. Some are for the hard floors, some for the carpet. I have a couple that are for getting into the tight cracks and corners, and some are made specifically for sucking up dog hair.
You see, I can't help myself. I go into the store and somehow find my way to the floor cleaning mechanisms aisle and next thing you know I've got some sort of cleaning deal in my cart. You see, there *has* to be the perfect machine out there. The one that will clean both hard and carpeted floors. One that will steam clean stains out of the carpet and vacuum dog hair all at once. This machine will get into the cracks and crevasses, without any attachments. It will be light weight and be able to suck up a small child.
I'll admit, I've actually been talked out of the floor cleaning aisle more then once...apparently some people don't think I *need* another appliance to clean the floor. Oh, but I do. One of the top things on my Christmas list this year is a Little Green Machine :)
So, what kinds of things do you collect?
The Flu
We have the flu at our house. I can tell you where we got it (or at least I think I can). Matt brought it home from football. You see, it was against "some rule" for players to bring their own water bottles to the football games. The team was required to share water bottles. The bottles are those squeezy kind. You don't actually *have* to put your mouth on the bottle to get it to work. Apparently the coaches forgot to teach that to the ninth grade football team. Even if they would've offered a lesson on "How To Drink From a Water Bottle 101", I know the attention span of a fifteen year old. The lesson wouldn't have mattered.
Last night I received an email from the coach saying that over 30% of the football players on the ninth grade team were out sick Monday. They have a new policy now. Each player is required to have their own water bottle....geez. took. them. long. enough.
Last night I received an email from the coach saying that over 30% of the football players on the ninth grade team were out sick Monday. They have a new policy now. Each player is required to have their own water bottle....geez. took. them. long. enough.
Tator (aka Francesca Elizabeth)
We have two live pets in our house. I don't count Nathan's fish as pets, they are just decorations. Both of our "real" pets are dogs. The oldest dog is Tator, aka Francesca Elizabeth. The other dog is Bailey and she is an entirely different post.
Tator is a Siberian Husky with a fantastic blood line, not that her blood line was important to us when we picked her out. The things that struck us when we met her were the facts that she was the most beautiful dog I had ever seen, and all she wanted to do was snuggle in my lap. Cute and cuddly...what else mattered?
We brought Tator home almost fourteen years ago. We had somehow lost our dog naming abilities after we picked her out, so she spent several weeks being called "Hey Puppy!" We knew we wanted a fun, dog type name and we also wanted a second, more regal name on her official papers (to be respectful of her blood line). The regal name was much easier for us to come up with. She is partially named after my sister and the other part was just a fancy name I liked :) It was mid-winter when I scooped her up to bring her outside for her nightly outdoor task when we were struck with her name:
Me: "She's like a sack of potatoes!"
Nathan: "Hey, let's call her Tator."
Me: "Okay, Tator is a pretty cool name and it's way better then 'hey puppy'."
So began our years with Tator. Her puppy years were fun. She stayed true to being the cute and cuddly puppy I picked out. Her "teen" years were a mess. Tator decided she didn't like me and *clearly* had it in for me. Nathan would leave the house and Tator would be mean to me. Granted I am a bit on the sensitive side, but I still felt threatened. Soon after the teen years she realized I wasn't going anywhere and we ended up with a respectful agreement. I would feed her, take her places, keep her groomed, clean up after her, and bring her to the vet. She would let me live in her house and sleep with her mate.
There are so many stories I could tell you about her I would consider writing a book, but this is only a blog and the point of this blog is to say out loud that she is old and she's not feeling well. The average life expectancy of a Siberian Husky is 10-14 years. We're lucky that we've had 14 eventful and wonderful years with her, but I am sad that I see it coming to an end.
Besides suffering from "old-age", Tator is suffering from arthritis of the hips. To help her with her pain and mobility we give her an anti-inflammatory medicine. The anti-inflammatory meds will cause damage to her liver. To off set the damage to the liver we are trying things like plain yogurt and cottage cheese. Her stomach has become even more sensitive these days so we also give her pro-biotics. I feel like we are constantly taping her together with one band-aid or another. Some people may understand this and some won't. I'm okay with that.
Over the last year she has had more and more series of tummy discomfort. She has been spending lengthy times being restless and agitated, but then recovering and seeming fine again. Each time we head into an episode I wonder if this will be the last? How many more times can we all do this? How many more sleepless nights can we all take? Is she hurting? Is she sad?
As she spent today outside, by herself, in the yard, unwilling to come in... I miss her already. I'd go out there and stroke her bony body and hope that she feels better soon. You see, I'm not ready to let her go yet. I'm not ready to have less dog hair on my floors, on my furniture, on my clothes, or in my food. I'm not ready to have more freedom and more money.
I am not ready to be a one dog family.
Updated 1/15/2010
Francesca Elizabeth will be resting peacefully today. We are preparing our good-byes, going through our photos and memories, and showing her that we will always love her.
If You Buy The MFP a New Screen Door...
If you buy The MFP a new screen door (which she has wanted for the last five years!)...She will want to paint the old metal door a really fabulous red color so the whole front of the house looks super cool.
So her husband will buy her a small can of really fabulous red paint.
If she gets ready to paint the door a really fabulous red color, she will notice the trim on the door is awful and will want to paint that too.
If she wants to paint the trim, she will catch on to the fact that she cannot paint it the really fabulous red color. The trim will need to be painted white. She plans to send her husband to the store for some white paint. (Her husband needs to go because The MFP has not showered yet for the day. Nor has she done her hair/make-up. Her husband has a shaved head and so he automatically wins the "gets - to - go - to - the - store - for - paint - this - morning" award.)
If she wants to paint the trim on the front door, she will realize that the garage door trim should also be painted. The garage door trim is a mess.
Before she paints the trim, she also recognizes the trim must be scraped of loose, old paint, and then cleaned so the bright new paint will adhere. She will get the husband to test out his old wire brush and see if his old wire brush will be okay for getting off the loose paint. Her husband will then realize that his old wire brush will be too dirty for The MFP to use. He offers to buy her a new brush when he goes to get the white paint for the trim.
As her husband is off buying white paint and a sparkly new wire brush for The MFP, she will then get the idea that this is kind of funny and decide that this would be a good time to blog...
Tiaras and Tutus~
The MFP
So her husband will buy her a small can of really fabulous red paint.
If she gets ready to paint the door a really fabulous red color, she will notice the trim on the door is awful and will want to paint that too.
If she wants to paint the trim, she will catch on to the fact that she cannot paint it the really fabulous red color. The trim will need to be painted white. She plans to send her husband to the store for some white paint. (Her husband needs to go because The MFP has not showered yet for the day. Nor has she done her hair/make-up. Her husband has a shaved head and so he automatically wins the "gets - to - go - to - the - store - for - paint - this - morning" award.)
If she wants to paint the trim on the front door, she will realize that the garage door trim should also be painted. The garage door trim is a mess.
Before she paints the trim, she also recognizes the trim must be scraped of loose, old paint, and then cleaned so the bright new paint will adhere. She will get the husband to test out his old wire brush and see if his old wire brush will be okay for getting off the loose paint. Her husband will then realize that his old wire brush will be too dirty for The MFP to use. He offers to buy her a new brush when he goes to get the white paint for the trim.
As her husband is off buying white paint and a sparkly new wire brush for The MFP, she will then get the idea that this is kind of funny and decide that this would be a good time to blog...
Tiaras and Tutus~
The MFP
Green Onions
My older two kids (aka Social Guy and The Artist) are growing up fast. This summer they have started getting more and more freedom and of course more responsibilities too. One of the best examples of a growing experience happened just last week. It was a few days before our family camping trip and we had just returned from an amazing long weekend at a friend's cottage. We had a lot to clean up and a lot to get ready for. Our errands list looked something like:
Get Social Guy a hair cut
Go to Cub Foods and pick up green onions
stop at body shop for estimate
go to the bank
go to Target (just because I like to browse and Target is one of my favorite stores...Did you know they have *everything* at Target?)
stop at the library to pick up a book on hold
pick up flea and tick junk for the dogs at Chuck'N Dons
plan the upcoming menu
double check to see that we have all school materials
dishes
laundry
blah blah blah
So I drove up to Great Clips and asked Social Guy if he needed me to come in or if I could just hand him $20 and he could get his hair cut on his own. He agreed that he could get his haircut on his own, so I dropped him off and told him I would be back.
I pulled into the auto body shop. Walked in and talked to the receptionist. She told me to hang out for a bit and one of the estimators would be with me in a couple minutes. After a few moments the estimator, The Artist, and I walked out to the car where he looked it over and took notes. The estimator told me to wait there and he would have my estimate ready in just a few minutes. The Artist noticed I kept looking over at Cub Foods, which was right next to the auto body store.
The Artist, "Do you need something from Cub?"
Me, "Yeah." *at that moment wishing The Artist was more like Social Guy and would be able to run over there and get those green onions for me.*
The Artist, "I could go over there and get what ever you need?" (Yes, she said that as a question.)
Me, "wow! That would be cool. I need green onions. Do you know what green onions are?"
The Artist, "No, but you could describe them to me."
I went ahead and tried my best to describe to her what they looked like and where they would be in the produce department. I handed her $20 and said, "Thanks!" A few minutes later she comes back. She's looking pretty proud of herself and hands me the bag.
The Artist, *in a beautiful, happy, sing-song voice* "These are the green onions, right?"
I look inside the bag....nope. I smile at her and say, "No, these are collard greens."
She was disappointed and mad, more at Cub Foods lousy produce labeling then at herself. I didn't show her the ribbon on the collard greens that said 'collard greens'. I did look at her with a huge smile and said, "Hey, I've never cooked these before. What an adventure! We'll go home, look up a recipe, and try them out. How cool!"
So that night we added a couple things to the list:
look up collard green recipe
make collard greens
The Artist grew a lot that day due to a mild mistake and our whole family tried something new AND loved it! Collard greens will become a new family favorite food and story to remember :)
Tiaras and Tutus~
The MFP
Get Social Guy a hair cut
Go to Cub Foods and pick up green onions
stop at body shop for estimate
go to the bank
go to Target (just because I like to browse and Target is one of my favorite stores...Did you know they have *everything* at Target?)
stop at the library to pick up a book on hold
pick up flea and tick junk for the dogs at Chuck'N Dons
plan the upcoming menu
double check to see that we have all school materials
dishes
laundry
blah blah blah
So I drove up to Great Clips and asked Social Guy if he needed me to come in or if I could just hand him $20 and he could get his hair cut on his own. He agreed that he could get his haircut on his own, so I dropped him off and told him I would be back.
I pulled into the auto body shop. Walked in and talked to the receptionist. She told me to hang out for a bit and one of the estimators would be with me in a couple minutes. After a few moments the estimator, The Artist, and I walked out to the car where he looked it over and took notes. The estimator told me to wait there and he would have my estimate ready in just a few minutes. The Artist noticed I kept looking over at Cub Foods, which was right next to the auto body store.
The Artist, "Do you need something from Cub?"
Me, "Yeah." *at that moment wishing The Artist was more like Social Guy and would be able to run over there and get those green onions for me.*
The Artist, "I could go over there and get what ever you need?" (Yes, she said that as a question.)
Me, "wow! That would be cool. I need green onions. Do you know what green onions are?"
The Artist, "No, but you could describe them to me."
I went ahead and tried my best to describe to her what they looked like and where they would be in the produce department. I handed her $20 and said, "Thanks!" A few minutes later she comes back. She's looking pretty proud of herself and hands me the bag.
The Artist, *in a beautiful, happy, sing-song voice* "These are the green onions, right?"
I look inside the bag....nope. I smile at her and say, "No, these are collard greens."
She was disappointed and mad, more at Cub Foods lousy produce labeling then at herself. I didn't show her the ribbon on the collard greens that said 'collard greens'. I did look at her with a huge smile and said, "Hey, I've never cooked these before. What an adventure! We'll go home, look up a recipe, and try them out. How cool!"
So that night we added a couple things to the list:
look up collard green recipe
make collard greens
The Artist grew a lot that day due to a mild mistake and our whole family tried something new AND loved it! Collard greens will become a new family favorite food and story to remember :)
Tiaras and Tutus~
The MFP
